H.M.S. Asphodel (K 56)

Flower Class Corvette

This Website is Dedicated to All who Sailed on H.M.S. Asphodel

H.M.S. ASPHODEL SUNK
BY U-BOAT

9th MARCH 1944

At 0130 on March the
9th, the Corvette H.M.S. ASPHODEL, of Escort Group B.4, while
Escorting Convoy S.L. 150/M.K.S. 41, was torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat,
U.
575, about 390 miles W.N.W of Cape Finisterre. H.M.S. Asphodel was on the
starboard bow of the convoy. A radar contact had been made at 0056, 100° two
miles, and foxers were streamed, but did not operate correctly. No star shell
was fired until 0120. The torpedo struck the ship aft when she was steaming at
15 knots at 3.500 yards range. Five survivors, including the First Lieutenant,
out of a Crew of 97 were rescued by
H.M.S. Clover. Other ships of the group,
assisted by The Destroyers
H.M.S. Whitehall and
H.M.S. Wrestler and the escort
carrier
H.M.S. Tracker, hunted the U-boat without success. H.M.S. Asphodel
was commanded by Lieutenant Michael Albert Halliday R.N.Z.N.R. when she
was sunk.

H.M.S. Asphodel was
the vessel, which picked up RCAF survivors from the sinking of the M.S. Amerika,
which was torpedoed and sank on the 22nd of April 1943. At the time
of the sinking of M.S. Amerika, Lieutenant H.P. Carse, D.S.C., R.N.V.R commanded
H.M.S. Asphodel. The M.S. Amerika carried as passengers 53 RCAF aircrew officers and
75-85 crew. The air crew 26 bombers aimers, 12 navigators and 15 pilots.
The ship was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine U-306 120 miles SSE of
Cape Farewell, Greenland. 16 aircrew and approximately 40 crew were
rescued by H.M.S. Asphodel. One of the RCAF survivor's was John. H.
Newland, who is still alive today, read his letter to me
here.

The German U-boat,
U-575 was herself sunk on the 13th of March 1944, in the north
Atlantic north of the Azores, by depth charges from the Canadian frigate
HMCS
Prince Rupert, the US destroyer
USS Hobson, the US destroyer escort
USS Haverfield, and by depth charges from British Wellington and Fortress aircraft (Sqdn.
172/B and 206 and 220/J) and Avenger aircraft of the US escort carrier
USS Bogue.
Leaving 18 dead and 37 survivors.

I would like to thank
Jean Hedges of New Zealand for kindly donating most of the photo's that are in
the photo gallery, Jean's father Lieutenant Gilbert Percy Hedges served aboard
Asphodel from February 1941 to April 1943. Please visit Jeans personal
website from the drop down menu on the link's button, and see the other ship's
her father served on.

Get in touch with
some of the relative's of H.M.S. Asphodel's crew, Jean Hedges, who's father was
a Lieutenant on Asphodel, Michael Downes, who lost a brother when she was sunk,
David Bell, who lost a cousin when she was sunk, and Allan Walker or John
Binsted who's father's were among the five to survive. You can e-mail them from the drop down
menu on the e-mail button.